Cadillac
by Harebelle
Summary: Just a little extra dialogue between scenes in the first movie. Friendly stuff between the heroes.


**This a tiny NT short and is set during the first film, directly after Ben, Abigail and Riley leave Patrick's house in his car.  
There seems to be a few hours of driving to Philadelphia we don't see, so I thought I'd add some conversation in there to expand on why Ben so quicky trusts Abigail in the movie.**

**Cadillac**

The Cadillac glided down the freeway towards Philadelphia. Inside, Benjamin Gates drove with Dr Abigail Chase beside him and Riley Poole laying on the back seats, hugging the Declaration in its protective sling case. The atmosphere in the small space was an excited one, as they relived the evening in their thoughts.

"So, Dr. Chase," Ben started a conversation after a while, "how are you doing?"

Abigail leant further back in her seat and ran a hand through her hair.

"Now I'm sitting still, it's all sinking in, you know? I was hanging from a moving van tonight and am now in possession of the Declaration of Independence. How did this all happen?"

"Well, you followed us because you didn't trust me. Good call," Ben smiled.

"I can't believe any of this is real."

"This beach...has too many stones..."

Ben barely heard Riley add to the conversation and was convinced that he had misheard what he picked up.

"Sorry?" He asked.

After a lack of response, Abigail turned in the passenger seat. "He's fast asleep," she laughed.

"I don't blame him after tonight's events. But _I'm_ too excited to even blink," Ben smiled to himself as he carefully overtook a car, then shook his head. "I'm wanted by the FBI for stealing a National treasure... but we were right!"

Abigail blinked at Ben as he grinned to himself, and she couldn't help joining in. "You sure made me look bad. As I've said, I've personally examined every inch of the Declaration, but all it takes is lemon juice and a hair dryer?"

"My great-granddad was right about everything. Our lives were not wasted..."

"You aren't so crazy after all, Mister Gates. Well, you _are, _but you're not delusional, at least." She twisted some of her hair, "you really do care about history."

"Thank you. I know this looks like a funny way of showing it, and now I've gotten you involved, Dr Chase."

"Abigail," she smiled.

"Abigail."

They relaxed and spoke together as they drove down the endless freeway.

Dr Chase told him about moving to America and both why and how she moved into her career, and Ben told her what she didn't know about his family, and how Ian had turned on him and Riley.

The conversation came naturally, and Ben felt surprisingly emotional having an outsider actually listen to his family's story. Ian and his colleges were interested in the treasure his family sought, but it was always evident that there wasn't much care for the Gates name, though Ian was respectful of their seemingly genetic puzzle solving gifts.

As they neared their destination, Ben pulled over in the parking lot of a small open park to rest for the night. Neither felt tired, but agreed that it was probably a good idea.

Ben sat staring through the windscreen for a while as Abigail slept quietly and Riley snuffled occasionally in the back. He wondered if his friend was still dreaming about the beach, then tried to remember the last time he himself had been to one. His mind kept reminding him that Ian was after them, that he had pulled Riley into the possibility of life imprisonment_, _that the Declaration could be lost forever in mere hours... No. He wasn't letting worry or self-doubt stop him; not after all of this. It was all so risky, but turning themselves in now would achieve nothing. His family's name and the people who trusted in him deserved more than that.

He pulled his tuxedo collar up around his neck and tried to sleep.

oooooooooooo

Ben was waken by a tapping on the door window he was leaning against. Jumping slightly, he sat up and focused on Riley standing outside the car. Riley smiled and held up a paper coffee cup in each hand. Ben blinked and smiled back, then opened the door to take them from him.

"Riley, hey. Thank you."

"Morning. Well, afternoon, actually. There's a vendor in this park and I had some change. I didn't know how uh, Dr Abigail takes her coffee, so there's no sugar."

"It's Chase, and thank you, Riley." Abigail sat up in her seat and Ben handed her a cup. "This is perfect."

Riley nodded and shuffled on the spot. Ben noticed his best friend now wore the Declaration across his back, and was proud of his responsibility.

"Cool. Morning. Ben, do you wanna come with me to get my coffee and stuff?" he gestured for Ben to come with him, then waited while he climbed out of the Cadillac and stretched his legs and arms. He remembered he was still wearing his fancy clothes from the night before and tried to look as casual as he could.

Abigail gave Ben an understanding expression from her seat, where she stayed as he walked beside Riley through the park.

The younger man checked they were well out of earshot before speaking.

"Should we try to lose her after the Institute? If we give a false clue and an excuse to split up, we-"

"It's fine, Riley. I trust Abigail."

"Ben, it's her _job_ to care about this," he pointed to the red sling case over his shoulder "she could try get the security at the Institute to collar us."

Ben stopped walking and faced him, smiling confidently.

"You've trusted my judgement this far, can you do same the with this, too?"

Riley glanced back in the direction of the car, though it was obscured by trees, then turned his face back to Ben's, nodding.

"Yeah... of course. Sorry. Plus she makes a change of scenery for the eyes besides you..." he blinked, "that came out wrong."

"Yeah, it kind of did," he didn't comment on Riley turning pink. "Just make sure we hold onto the Declaration anyway, no use risking it if I'm wrong about Abigail."

"Though you don't think you are."

"Because I'm not. We spoke a while last night; she's pretty cool."

Riley gave him an expression Ben couldn't help but laugh at. "Oh, she wanted to know if you like making sandcastles."

"Uh, what? Oh no, Beeen. I didn't?"

"Come on, I need some different clothes and breakfast."

"Lunch." Riley corrected, "and don't laugh at me! I'm going to need a month-long vacation on a beach after all of this."

**Riley seems to prefer the indoors, but I'm sure even he couldn't say no to a sunny beach, heh.**

Review if you liked, NT fans!


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